With Earl M. I led the first pitch which is the only real technical one. I combined the first two with a 70m. From there it was mostly scrambling 5th class with cool exposure. Descent route. The route goes fast. Russell almost always has a cold wind tunnel effect. Can combine with Mithril back to back in a day, do Fishhook first as its first pitch gets sun by 9am, Mithril's Dihedral does not start getting sun until noon.

Winter ascent, no falls, all free, 4.5 hours from base to summit. We got down before the 1 crampon/ khram was a problem for getting back below iceberg lake. Tr here http://pullharder.org/2011/05/11/finding-religion-on-fishhook-arete-in-winter/

Climbed the East Face as an after thought to Fishhook Arete on Russell with Luis and Dave.

Bivy'ed at the portal Friday. Hiked to Iceberg Lake Saturday. Left camp for E. Face @ 3:30pm. The three of us climbed with double ropes. I had a great time leading the Fresh-Air Traverse. Summited a little after 8pm. Headed down the Mtnrs Route and saw the International Space Station fly by at 9:07pm. Exhausted back at camp at 9:30pm. I was feeling sick and not sure if I could do Russell the next day but agreed to see how I felt in the morning.

Dave woke me us 5:07 for Fishhook, I smoked a cig as the sky began to lighten up and I contemplated life...still in my bivy. Finished cig..."Lets do it."

Fishhook was Awesome! Lead 1st, 4th, & 7th pitch. Loved the first.

Back to camp at 3pm. Time to head back to car. 6:30pm, back at car...legs are done!

talked to climbers Deb and Dave from Temecula on our way up to Iceberg. they warned us of the cold. luckily weather was good for us. still a little chilly but not bad. did this route day after East Face with buddy Tyler. we were last out of camp and first back. group of 3 did east buttress of whitney. 2 fellows from LA and SD did Mithral. Brrrr. weather was good. some clouds otherwise clear. awesome route. would come back again, especially for pitch 5!!

Dave and I slayed this beast in our typical fashion. We had an incredible trip with beautiful weather and some new scenery over Whitney-Russell Pass. Yes, P5 was my favorite - I think I forgot for a moment how cold I was and majorly ran the thing out. Descent was not fun but my sleeping bag was mighty friendly - all in all, very worth the suffering.

Climbed with Peter H. Rather than passing Iceberg Lake on the approach, we stayed in the drainage above UBSL skirting to the right of the large cliffs at the headwall.

We carried a light rack of (small nuts, large hexes, 4 small cams). The whole route can go passive with no head scratching. We each carried 1.5L of water, which was plenty since we still had some leftover at the summit. The belay ledges are huge and well spaced for a 60m line.

It was nice to walk off the East Ridge. At least until we started the downhill scree-ing section.

Climbed with Miguel Forjan. One of the best alpine rock climbs I've done in North America. Fun, technical pitches alternating with easy, arete scrambling all the way to the top, although I spent way too much time sussing out the line on Pitch 3. Started around 8:40 just as the sun was hitting the first pitch. Weather was perfect but chilly even in the sun. The crux 5.9 lieback just below the summit turned out to be easier than it looked. Topped out around 4.

Had great weather until about the 4th pitch. Had to rap off because of incoming hail and wind. Got down just in time and spent the next 12 hours in the tent. The first 3 pitches are exactly as described in other places.